If AI is the new “internet in 1995,” are we ready for what’s coming next?

This conversation began in the middle of the noise and bright lights of NAB New York, but it didn’t feel loud. It felt human. Shira and Nimay sat down together, not to debate AI or perform expertise, but to talk about what happens to us when technology moves faster than our sense of self. Nimay brings the lens of a creator who has lived inside both the tech world and the cultural world, and she is someone who understands how identity shifts when the tools around us change.

Nimay shares her journey from front-end developer to cultural voice and changemaker, and why she believes the rise of AI mirrors the same generational divide many of us watched unfold during the early internet era.

This conversation moves past hype and fear-mongering to ask deeper, human-level questions:

• What skills do we risk aging out of if we don’t adapt?
• How do we protect our creative integrity while using AI as a tool?
• What happens when tech companies scale faster than regulation?
• And how do we build AI systems that don’t destroy the planet in the process?

Nimay offers thoughtful, grounded insight on:

• Sustainable capitalism
  How growth can exist without extraction, centering systems that support communities instead of draining them.
• Environmental impact of AI
  AI is not weightless. It consumes water and energy. She brings attention to the physical cost of digital progress, and why that matters now.
• Balancing automation and creativity
  Using AI as a tool to remove the repetitive parts of work while keeping the soul, perspective, and artistic voice human.
• Mental health in the creator economy
  Naming the pressure to stay visible, relevant, always producing. Exploring how AI can soften the workload without erasing identity.
• What meaningful AI regulation could look like
  Policy that is informed by culture, transparency, and accountability. A future shaped with intention instead of reaction.

Whether you're a creator, founder, or simply trying to make sense of the current shift, this is a conversation worth sitting with.

WHAT WE COVER

00:00 — Being Against AI Feels Like Being Against the Internet in 1995

00:16   — Live from NAB New York – Welcome and Setup

00:49 —  Meet Nimay Ndolo – Creator, Activist, Technologist

02:00 —  Why AI Feels Like the Next Internet Revolution

03:17   —  Fears of Aging Out and Learning to Adapt

04:05 —  Balancing Optimism, Regulation, and Trust in Tech

06:38 —  Generational Gaps and Resistance to AI

08:02 — The Need for Younger Leadership and Policy Reform

09:42 — Sustainable Capitalism, DAOs, and the Future of Work

12:44 — City Aesthetica – Linking AI, Architecture, and Environment

14:44 — Adapting to AI While Protecting the Planet

15:02 — Inclusion, Representation, and Equity in the AI Era

16:13 — Can AI Help or Hurt Mental Health?

18:19 — How Creators Use AI Without Losing Their Voice

21:32 —  Final Reflections and Closing Thanks

WHY THIS MATTERS

We are living through a technological shift that will define how culture moves, how art is made, how we work, and how we see ourselves.

The goal isn’t to resist the shift…it’s to shape it consciously.

CONNECT WITH NIMAY

City Aesthetica (Nonprofit): IG @cityaesthetica

IG / TikTok / X: @NimayNdolo

https://www.feminists.co/discover/nimayndolo
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Credits

This episode of The AI Download was hosted, created, and executive produced by Shira Lazar. Executive Producer Michele Musso, Creative Director Nadia Giosia with Mint Labs. Music by PALA, Catalina Coastline (licensed under Boss Soundstripe Productions by BMI). Produced by Musso Media. © 2025 Shira Lazar. All rights reserved.